Clemens says Bonsall group’s ‘ordinance’ tough to swallow

BONSALL -- The president of the Rainbow Municipal Water Districtis upset that the Bonsall Community Sponsor Group has asked formore restrictive guidelines for developing on slopes and ridges inBonsall, and he has asked county planners to reconsider the rulesin the county’s upcoming revised land-use plan.

District President Tom Clemens, an avocado grower, called aspecial meeting of water board directors Friday to garner theirsupport for a letter asking county officials to reject theguidelines in favor of a solution that would allow those who chooseto get out of the business of growing avocados to subdivide andbuild on their land.

Many growers are concerned that the U.S. Department ofAgriculture will approve a proposal to allow Mexican avocados to besold in all 50 states, rather than just the 33 states where theyare now sold. Mexican avocados are banned for sale in the majoravocado-production states -- California, Florida and Texas --because of concerns over possible pest infestation.

Clemens said the one-two punch of the Mexican avocado andfurther restrictions on development could cripple the area, andthus, the water district.

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“I just think that this is so important to Rainbow (customers)and wanted to get the word out to everybody,” Clemens said. “Ifthey got that thing enacted, they’d just shut everybody down. Itwould have a big impact on this whole area.”

The proposed Ridgeline Preservation and Hillside Developmentrules would require any requests for development on property withmore than a 15 percent slope to go through additional county reviewprior to approval. The sponsor group seeks to limit building thatalters the natural landscape on ridges.

The guidelines were approved by the sponsor group in July withthe hope they would be included in the Bonsall portion of thecounty’s General Plan 2020, which is undergoing finalrevisions.

Clemens read about the proposed guidelines and brought up theissue at the board’s Aug. 6 meeting. After researching the issuefurther, Clemens drafted the letter reviewed by the board lastweek.

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In the letter, Clemens wrote that the threat of importation ofMexican avocados would “decimate the American avocado industryovernight.” He further contends that if the Bonsall area losesagricultural water sales, the average domestic water bill forRainbow water customers will go from $72 to $212 per month and thatgrowers will have no options when it comes to alternative uses oftheir property if the guidelines are adopted by the county.

Margarette Morgan, chairwoman of the Bonsall Community SponsorGroup, said she has no idea why the water district is concernedwith addressing the ridge line and grading guidelines since watertowers would be exempt from the requirements.

“This has nothing to do with Rainbow water,” Morgan said. “Thisis a land-use item, not a water item.”

Morgan said Lawrence Sundram, secretary of the sponsor group,attended the Friday meeting and tried to further explain thesponsor group’s position on ridge line development and grading. ButMorgan did not feel Sundram made much of an impact.

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“We currently have an item in our sponsor group general planthat talks about ridge lines, so this is nothing new. It just hadmore teeth,” Morgan added. “I just don’t think Mr. Clemensunderstands.”

The water district’s general manager, Greg Ensminger, said hewill appear before the county Planning Commission Friday to presentClemens’ letter and press county officials to consider thedistrict’s concerns.

“It’s huge,” Ensminger said. “There are a lot of unknowns. Ifthe Mexican avocados are imported and growers can’t compete,they’ll need to do something. And if they can’t sell their land(for development), it’s like two whammies at once. If we lose theagricultural water users, our domestic rates will skyrocket.”